The Age of Absolutism was the period around the 17th and 18th centuries when Europe was ruled by very powerful monarchs. Monarchs with absolute control. Thus, the Age of Absolutism. Absolute monarchs were rulers who held all the power in a country. Under their rule there were no checks and balances on their power, and there were no other governing bodies they shared the power with. These monarchs also ruled by divine right or the belief that their power came from God. To oppose them was to oppose God.
a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West and that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. Central to Enlightenment thought were the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.
During the decades of economic and social transformation, western Europe also experienced massive political change. The central event throughout much of the Continent was the French Revolution (1789–99) and its aftermath. This was followed by a concerted effort at political reaction and a renewed series of revolutions from 1820 through 1848. Connections between political change and socioeconomic upheaval were real but complex. Economic grievances associated with early industrialization fed into later revolutions, particularly the outbursts in 1848, but the newest social classes were not prime bearers of the revolutionary message. Revolutions also resulted from new political ideas directed against the institutions and social arrangements of the pre-industrial order. Their results facilitated further economic change, but this was not necessarily their intent. Political unrest must be seen as a discrete factor shaping a new Europe along with fundamental economic forces.
- Summaries taken from the following websites: www.albert.io/blog/age-of-absolutism-ap-european-history-crash-course/, www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/The-age-of-revolution and www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history
State Standards:
WH.H.6 - Understand the Age of Revolutions and Rebellions. 6.1: Explain how new ideas and theories of the universe altered political thought and affected economic and social conditions (e.g., Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, rationalism, secularism, humanism, tolerance, empiricism, natural rights, contractual government, laissez-faire economics, Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, Newton, inductive and deductive reasoning, heliocentric, inquisition, works of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Bolivar, Jefferson, Paine, Adam Smith, etc.). 6.2: Analyze political revolutions in terms of their causes and impact on independence, governing bodies and church-state relations. (e.g., Glorious Revolution, American Revolution, French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Haitian, Mexican, Chinese, etc.). 6.3: Explain how physical geography and natural resources influenced industrialism and changes in the environment (e.g., agricultural revolutions, technological innovations in farming, land use, deforestation, industrial towns, pollution, etc.). 6.4: Analyze the effects of industrialism and urbanization on social and economic reform (e.g., Industrial Revolution, urbanization, growth of middle class, increase in productivity and wealth, changes in economic status, new types of labor organizations, etc.).
Essential Questions:
1. How do modern civilizations create order, prosperity, and sustainability? 2. How do ideas serve as a catalyst for lasting change? 3. How does the spread of or access to new ideas and information challenge established authority? 4. What are the positive or negative implications of modernization?
Major Learning Points:
1. New ideas and discontent with social, political, or economic conditions lead to conflict over power and authority, resulting in a change in the structure of government or society.
2. Industrialization contributes to physical changes to the environment.
3. Advances in technology lead to the development of new products and materials which can increase the sustainability of a society.
4. Innovation and industrialism lead to the creation of new wealth, opportunities, challenges, an increased need for access to available resources, and transform social/political/economic structures.
5. Rise of Absolutism: Divine Right of monarchs to rule - Kings and queens believed they inherited the throne directly from God, and that they were carrying out His work on earth (examples include Louis XIV, Philip II of Spain, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Frederick of Prussia, etc.), Absolutist monarchs ruled with absolute power over their people and had zero limitations on political power, Absolutist monarchs attempted to control every aspect of public life within their countries.
6. Enlightenment and the Age of Reason: Application of rationalism, empiricism, and the scientific thinking which originated in the Scientific Revolution within the realm of societies and government theory, Increased criticism and skepticism towards the church and prevailing absolutist monarchs, New ideas regarding the role of government and how a society should be organized in order to cooperate and thrive, Key Philosophers: John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Kant, Rousseau, Baron de Montesquieu, Mary Wollstonecraft, Cesare Beccaria, Adam Smith, Enlightenment ideas: natural rights, social contract, religious tolerance, freedom of speech, equality for women, just punishments for crimes, invisible hand & laissez-faire economics
7. Age of Revolutions: American, French, Haitian, Latin American Revolutions: Inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophes, nations began to question their governing bodies and demanding change (ie. Declaration of Rights of Man, Declaration of Independence), Revolutionaries strived to gain more representation within and protection from the governments they lived under Revolutions are fueled by economic strife, social conflicts, and radical ideas regarding the role and responsibility of government Revolutions result in major political upheavals and the eventual replacement of the old style of government with a new style of government. (ie: absolutist state becomes constitutional monarchy in France, colonial possessions gain political independence and establish democratic republic in America)
8. Industrial Revolution: A period of increasing mechanization and production starting in England in the mid-1700s due to plentiful natural resources, new agricultural innovations, and favorable economic factors, Countries with plentiful natural resources were able to more rapidly industrialize and shift away from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy, Key inventions of the industrial revolution made for efficient production on a mass scale, Changed the way people lived and worked as people shifted away from agrarian, rural habitats in search for work within factory towns and urban centers. Industrialization occurred unevenly in that not all countries industrialize and this results in the rise of global inequality as industrialized nations grow wealthy and un-industrialized nations lag behind economically. Industrialization eventually leads to imperialism whereby wealthy industrialized nations exploit weaker nations in order to extract natural resources and gain access to new markets.